Sunday, March 16, 2008

Mummy of Temple Dancer Turns Out to be Son of Ramesses II

It looks like the remains of Ramses II's extensive family may be scattered all over the world!

"The 3,000-year-old relic was thought to have been a female temple dancer, but a hospital CT scan showed features so reminiscent of the Egyptian royal family that experts are 90 per cent sure it is one of the 110 children Ramesses is thought to have fathered.
The Bolton Museum mummy: Egyptian mummy exhibit is son of Ramesses II
The Bolton Museum mummy was thought for many years
to have been the remains of a female temple dancer

Tests showed that the mummy had a pronounced over-bite and misaligned eyes, akin to members of the 19th Dynasty, and his facial measurements were found to be almost identical to those of Ramesses himself.

Experts believe that the mummified man died in his thirties between 1295 and 1186 BC of a wasting disease, likely to be cancer.

Chemical analysis also showed that the body had been embalmed using expensive materials, including pistachio resin and thyme, the preserve of priests and royalty. The story of the royal mummy was uncovered by a team from York University who were filmed carrying out the tests for History Channel series Mummy Forensics.

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